Starting tomorrow: The Hubster Forum

More than one of the candidates in the race for the 1^st Suffolk seat, representing East Boston in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has expressed an interest in having me post questions for the prospective state reps to respond to on this blog. I will, therefore, post a question on a different issue each Sunday, beginning tomorrow, until the election. The question will be posted in the morning and the candidates will be able to post their responses as comments at any time over the following week.

I ran into each of the candidates at the recent Italia Unita feast, and—to my surprise—all of them appear to check this blog from time to time, so I am confident that they will see the question and will be able to respond if they choose to do so. If the candidates want to make a point about the logistics of the format, they can email me at that address on the right of this page.

I am developing the first question right now, but would appreciate suggestions for future questions. Any reader who would like to propose a question or topic can also use the email address on the right to send me his or her thoughts

On another matter, I have deleted two comments recently that were posted about this race because the content in each case inappropriately discussed the personal lives of one of the candidates. The candidates should be praised for the time and effort involved in running to represent our community, and their thoughts on the issues—and any actions that they take or have taken that may further clarify their political points of view—should be open to discussion and dissection. However, personal attacks, name-calling and references to family members in contexts that are irrelevant to this race will be deleted immediately.